As an alternative of information carrier, orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes enable us to promote the development of high-capacity classical optical communication because there are an infinite number of orthogonal eigenstates in OAM beam in theory. In addition, high-dimensional quantum systems have attracted much interest of many scientists in recent years because of their higher channel capacity and more robust noise resistance. The OAM’s excellentdimension scalability makes it an important role in realization of high-dimensional systems. Recent research advances in photon OAM states transmission are reviewed, with main focus on the distribution of quantum superposition and entangled states in various transmission ways such as free space, fiber and underwater. And intractable problems in its practical use as well as several approaches to mitigating these conundrums are also elaborated, which can provide reference for relevant researchers.